Surviving the Opera
by FranticAgonist
Summary: Mag and Nathan survive and some long-buried secrets are unearthed.


The Opera crowd was transfixed. GeneCo definitely knew how to put on a show! That was what this must be, right? It had to be some kind of special effects trickery, fake blood and optical illusion. Blind Mag still hung in mid-air, smiling serenely and seeming to feel no pain from the ghastly self-inflicted wounds. Surely Mr. Largo would have done something about such an open act of defiance by such to publicly beloved employee, wouldn't he?

As a matter of fact Rotti Largo had indeed done something about it. Backstage, he had collapsed. The wracking coughs shook his frame and blood frothed at his lips as his complexion purpled. How dare she? That ungrateful bitch had been nothing when he had found her! He, Rotti Largo, had made her a star and this is how she repaid him? Just like that scheming bitch, Marni. Well, he had taken care of her, and he would take care of Mag too. No need to wait for Nathan to do his bidding, he would take out his final victim himself. Time to show the world the fate that awaited those who betrayed GeneCo!

He struggled to his feet, gripping the wall for support. He reached for the small knife in his pocket, intending to cut the ropes that held the singer airborne, but before he could reach it, he was slammed into the wall, pinned by yet another disgruntled employee. Rotti silently cursed himself for only hiring the best when Nathan Wallace growled in his ear, "I don't fucking think so." and pressed a much larger blade against his neck.

Meanwhile, the crowd was distracted by Pavi Largo, who was screaming as if in agony, staring at Mag in horror. "My face! My beautiful face, she has ruined it!" He shrieked in anguish. Luigi rushed for the stage, shoving people aside to reach it and lashing out with his knife at those who didn't move quickly enough. Finally, just when he thought this night was going to be boring, he finally got to fucking stab someone!

" I know what you've done to my family, old man. I captured one of your Genterns earlier on my way here. She seemed quite eager to stay alive. So eager, in fact that she was more than happy to tell me about a job you gave her 17 years ago. Lucky for me, she was one of the more successful guinea pigs for your cornea transplants, and she relayed the order you gave to sneak into my lap and poison my wife's medication. I killed her painlessly but you will not be so lucky."

These were the last words Rotti heard before Nathan dull, well-used blades plunged into his flesh over and over again. The pain was so overwhelming that it stole what little breath remained in his body. Nathan watched his wife's murderer flounder in a spreading pool of blood, gasping for air like a fish. He was unable to stifle a grim sense of satisfaction in a job well done as he slit his former employer's throat, leaving him to his death throes.

One of Rotti's flailing arms severs the ropes holding Mag, and the once again blind singer hits the ground, her landing cushioned by the falling snow. Luigi, grinning ferally, advances on the helpless woman who can't even hear his approach over the clamor of the opera.

"Dad!" Shilo's scream of terror snaps Nathan out of his gory reverie, bringing him back to the present. He follows his daughter's horrified gaze and sees the danger unfolding onstage. He rushes to Mag's aid, intent on stopping the murder-happy maniac. Luigi is so fixated on his helpless target that he never even sees the ex-Repo Man coming.

Nathan grasps the younger man by the throat and disarms him swiftly. Luigi, without his weapon, and for once facing a stronger, better-trained, and better-armed opponent, seems to come out of his homicidal haze.

"Please, don't kill me!" He whimpers. "All of you can go! Just let me live!" He cries, sounding almost like a frightened child. Nathan snorts derisively and uses the uses Luigi's own knife to kill him. Nathan seems to almost revel in the carnage, bathing in the crimson spray. He contemptuously tosses the corpse aside and crosses the gore-splattered stage to Mag's body.

She stirs feebly as a hand touches her arm. "Well, it certainly took you long enough. Rotti's punishments are usually much more efficient." She says, nearly hiding the quiver of fear behind a wall of bravado.

"Mag, Rotti won't be punishing anyone anymore." Nathan tells his wife's best friend. "You're free of GeneCo and you're coming home with Shilo and me." Unable to contain a sigh of relief, Mag finally succumbs to the pain as Nathan carries her from the theater with Shilo close behind.


End file.
